


family

by rmaowl



Series: january [13]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Balloons, Birthday, Birthday Cake, Birthday Fluff, Birthday Party, Birthday Presents, Boys In Love, Cake, Castle of Lions (Voltron) Was Not Destroyed, Families of Choice, Family, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gift Giving, Hunk (Voltron) Has Anxiety, Hunk (Voltron) is so Pure, Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, Love, M/M, Made For Each Other, Photographs, Photography, Pictures, Presents, Romantic Fluff, Sweet, Team as Family, happy birthday hunk!!!, photo albums
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-13
Updated: 2019-01-13
Packaged: 2019-10-09 23:44:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17414816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rmaowl/pseuds/rmaowl
Summary: Yellow balloons float aimlessly among the Castle’s halls.





	family

It's in the beat of his heart, this content feeling of completeness, a wayward whisper saying _I've been waiting a long time for you._

It's big for Keith to have a revelation like this, to have one person who is so much his other half that he couldn't bear to live without them. It's scary. He knows what happens when he gets too dependent, he knows it more painfully than he's willing to admit, but somehow Hunk brings about an unyielding sense of safety. He's warm and comforting, whispering reassurances into his ears and enveloping him in hugs when his breathing quickens and he's struck with a sudden fear of the cold, of the empty, of the Galra bases he left behind so long ago. He's endlessly intelligent (he got into the Galaxy Garrison of all places, what did people expect, why did they underestimate him so) and he's able to solve complicated problems in a blink. He's a quick thinker, albeit an anxious one.

Speaking of anxiety.

Keith tries his best to care for Hunk when his anxiety ratchets up for no reason, offering cuddles with Kosmo or a heavy blanket to drape over his shoulders or a steaming mug of tea. All Hunk wants is _him,_ but he doesn’t say that, so Keith doesn't know.

The thing with Keith is that he automatically assumes he's unworthy. It’s been instilled in him that his words aren’t enough (they never were when he was the Black Paladin, anyway), that he's too small and bony and quicksilver to be any comfort on his own. So he brings objects, he brings things of permanence.

Yes, sometimes he brings creatures.

He’s clueless, okay. He’s swamped with an innate need to care for his mate, yet the signals cross endlessly in his brain and all that he’s left with is an overwhelming feeling of confusion and inadequacy. It’s some side effect of being part Galra and part gay human disaster, probably.

He doesn't know how to express his feelings. He’s never been any good at conveying his emotions.

Essentially, he’s doomed.

Hunk’s birthday is just around the corner. Keith wants it to be a special occasion, like his wonderful boyfriend (mate, mate, mate) deserves, but he isn’t sure how. His Galra instincts are going haywire, urging him multiple times to bring Hunk random trinkets. Hunk’s assured him that he doesn’t expect anything over the top from him or anyone else, he’s even prepared to make his own cake, but Keith has to do _something._ Even if it’s small, it’ll be appreciated.

Keith’s a sentimental gift-giver. He wants something that has meaning, something that’s useful, something Hunk’ll actually enjoy. It’s frustrating, because nothing ever seems good enough for him to give to Hunk, who is the literal best.

Eventually, he decides on a photo album. He asks Hunk’s family (who he met a while ago over a very panic-inducing dinner) for photos of them. He blatantly steals and prints endless photos of Voltron that have been taken and posted on alien social media by nameless fans. He takes photos of his team (his found family) personally, handling an alien phone with relative ease. Sometimes they know they’re being photographed, sometimes they don’t. Keith prides himself on his learned stealth. He doodles in the margins of the pages, his shitty drawings filling up the empty spaces. They’re spiraling abstract designs, they’re detailed impressions of his loved ones, they’re tiny caricatures of alien creatures that Hunk somehow finds “adorable.” He works hard on it. It takes weeks to finish, but it gets done.

It’s the night before Hunk’s birthday. They’re snuggled together in Hunk’s warm, homely room. Keith has yet to fall asleep, but Hunk’s all-encompassing arms certainly make him feel tired, chasing away the lingering anxieties of the exhausting day.

Before he knows it, he’s dead to the world.

It’s morning. Yellow balloons float aimlessly among the Castle’s halls. Hunk’s sunshine grin is prominent as he takes his (space) cake out of the (space) oven. They sing Happy Birthday and it’s not as awkward and painful and wrong as Keith remembers it from his foster families. They hand out gifts. Keith goes last, which is a whole lot of pressure. He anxiously passes over the terribly-wrapped gift and Hunk smiles at it, rolling his eyes fondly at Keith’s meager skills.

He tears up when he realizes what it is. He hugs Keith fiercely, book in hand.

He flips through it over the course of the night, savoring each and every photo, along with a slice of cheery yellow cake. Keith knows when Hunk finishes looking at it, because he approaches Keith with a light frown across his features. Keith immediately fears for his life.

“There was a severe lack of my boyfriend in that album,” Hunk comments somewhat jokingly, pausing for a second before he continues, “like, I had your drawings, and they were adorable, but...” _Adorable, adorable, adorable._ Keith’s heart soars a little, despite his fear. “I only got to appreciate your good-looking face in group shots.”

Keith refuses to blush like a crushing schoolgirl, but he does snatch up Hunk’s hand and grip it tightly, nearly crushing it. This is how he expresses his emotions. Please be proud of him.

“Sorry,” he starts, but Hunk shushes him quickly.

“Don’t be sorry, honey. I just want to know why.” Hunk squeezes his hand in return.

“I don’t know. Never crossed my mind, I guess.” The fact that he could be important to someone is astounding, but he’s never going to say that aloud.

Hunk frowns, then announces definitively, “I’m taking a picture of you and your bike.”

“Oh,” Keith says, suddenly feeling very small.

They take the picture with Keith standing in front of his blazing red hovercraft (and if Hunk surprises Keith with a sudden kiss selfie that makes the cover of the album, emblazoned _FAMILY,_ so be it).

**Author's Note:**

> three noun prompt: delight, motorbike, phone  
> dialogue prompt: “i’ve been waiting a long time for you.”


End file.
